"Shah was returning home from Amner village with 15 kg meat on his motorcycle when four persons accosted him, accused him of carrying beef and beat him up", Jalakheda police station Inspector Vijaykumar Tiwari had said. They allegedly assaulted him on the suspicion that he was carrying beef. His family has contended that he might not have known that the meat was beef. The video showed Shaha being dragged, kicked and assaulted by the group of men. He is likely to be arrested once he is discharged from the hospital, where he is now recuperating from the numerous injuries he received on his face and neck after being attacked by four-five men.

Shaha's mother had claimed that he was the head of the BJP's Katol tehsil minority morcha, while local BJP leaders said he was a party member.

Stern action should be taken against him according to the law, but people must not take law in their own hands and resort to violence in such cases, Potdar said.

However, the BJP had sought to play it down, calling it a "stray" incident. It was learnt that he was a BJP member only a day after the attack. "We condemn this incident, but one can not term it a failure of law and order machinery because this is a stray incident", BJP spokesman Niranjan Shetty said.